Politz v. Politz

149 So. 3d 805, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 2910, 2014 WL 4435961
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 10, 2014
DocketNo. 49,242-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 149 So. 3d 805 (Politz v. Politz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Politz v. Politz, 149 So. 3d 805, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 2910, 2014 WL 4435961 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, J.

|,In this community property partition litigation, Alice Catherine Bordelon Politz appeals a trial court judgment in favor of her former husband, Nyle Anthony Politz. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court’s judgment and remand this matter to the trial court with instructions to schedule a hearing to determine whether Ms. Politz is entitled to permanent spousal support and the amount to which she is entitled.

FACTS

Nyle Anthony Politz and Alice Catherine Bordelon Politz were married on May 28, 1977. Mr. Politz left the matrimonial domicile on September 18, 2002, and filed a petition for divorce on October 18, 2002.1 A judgment of divorce was rendered on May 21, 2003. However, the parties have been embroiled in litigation with regard to various ancillary issues for more than 10 years.2

On March 16, 2004, Mr. Politz filed a petition of rule nisi, seeking partition of the parties’ community property. He also filed a sworn detailed descriptive list of the assets and debts of the community and made numerous claims for reimbursement. On July 19, 2004, Ms. Politz filed a detailed descriptive list; she also made claims for reimbursement and for “mismanagement” and “unauthorized alienation” of community property. 1 ¿Thereafter, Mr. Politz filed two amended detailed descriptive lists.3

Subsequently, Ms. Politz filed a rule for contempt, alleging that Mr. Politz had violated an injunction which barred both parties from alienating community property. More specifically, she alleged that he had liquidated certain retirement accounts which belonged to the community. On February 28, 2005, the trial court entered a judgment awarding to Ms. Politz “the balance in the Vanguard accounts in the names of either or both of the parties herein as an allocation of an asset of the community[.]”4

[810]*810The partition trial finally commenced in 2010.5 After hearing the testimony and reviewing the evidence presented at trial, the trial court determined that the total assets of the community were $128,132.35. The court allocated one-half interest in the property to each party ($64,066.17 each). Further, the court made the following findings:

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3. Mrs. Politz has assets in her possession in the amount of $22,000.00.
[¾4. Mr. Politz has assets in his possession in the amount of $55.54.
5. Mr. Politz’s reimbursement claims total $171,692.75, which divided by [two] entitle[s] him to $85,846.37 from Mrs. Politz’s side. To this figure is added the separate property claim of $1,197.00 plus the rental claim of $6,294.50, for a total reimbursement/rental total of $93,337.87.
6. Mr. Politz’s reimbursement/rental claim of $93,337.87 is well over Mrs. Politz’s fifty (50%) percent interest in the remaining assets ($64,066.17).
7. Mr. Politz would be entitled to receive his fifty (50%) percent of the net community in addition to Mrs. Politz’s fifty (50%) percent of the net community against his reimbursement claims to the extent of the measure of the community property.
8. There are insufficient community assets to resolve the measure of the reimbursement claims.

Because the amount allocated to Ms. Politz was insufficient to resolve the reimbursement claims asserted by Mr. Politz, the court allocated all remaining community assets to Mr. Politz, including an undivided interest in 2124 Fairfield Avenue, LLC; an undivided interest in Jones, Odom, Davis & Politz, LLP; an undivided interest in Nyle A. Politz, LLC; the sum of $81,176.81 in the client trust account of Gary A. Bowers (held in escrow from the sale of the matrimonial domicile); and the ownership of two retirement accounts and two life insurance policies. To further offset Mr. Politz’s reimbursement claims, the court also allocated to Mr. Politz royalties due to Ms. Politz from mineral leases for the years 2003-2012.6

|4Ms. Politz appeals.7

[811]*811DISCUSSION

Ms. Politz contends the court erred in allocating the following community assets to Mr. Politz: (1) two Vanguard retirement accounts which had been allocated to her in a previous judgment; (2) two Trans-America life insurance policies; (3) reimbursement for cash advances Mr. Politz made on credit cards he obtained after the termination of the community; and (4) a reimbursement claim in the amount of $2,500.

LSA-R.S. 9:2801 provides, in pertinent part:

A. When the spouses are unable to agree on a partition of community property or on the settlement of the claims between the spouses arising either from the matrimonial regime, or from the co-ownership of former community property following termination of the matrimonial regime, either spouse, as an incident of the action that would result in a termination of the matrimonial regime |5or upon termination of the matrimonial regime or thereafter, may institute a proceeding, which shall be conducted in accordance with the following rules:
* * *
(4) The court shall then partition the community in accordance with the following rules:
(a) The court shall value the assets as of the time of trial on the merits, determine the liabilities, and adjudicate the claims of the parties.
(b) The court shall divide the community assets and liabilities so .that each spouse receives property of an equal net value.
(e) The court shall allocate or assign to the respective spouses all of the community assets and liabilities. In allocating assets and liabilities, the court may divide a particular asset or liability equally or unequally or may allocate it in its entirety to one of the spouses. The court shall consider the nature and source of the asset or liability, the economic condition of each spouse, and any other circumstances that the court deems relevant. As between the spouses, the allocation of a liability to a spouse obligates that spouse to extinguish that liability. The allocation in no way affects the rights of creditors.
(d) In the event that the allocation of assets and liabilities results in an unequal net distribution, the court shall order the payment of an equalizing sum of money, either cash or deferred, secured or unsecured, upon such terms and conditions as the court shall direct. The court may order the execution of notes, mortgages, or other documents as it deems necessary, or may impose a mortgage or lien on either community or [812]*812separate property, movable or immovable, as security.
⅜ * *

Generally, the property of married persons domiciled in Louisiana is either community or separate. LSA-C.C. art. 2335.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
149 So. 3d 805, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 2910, 2014 WL 4435961, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/politz-v-politz-lactapp-2014.